Fence



(No Model.)

H. H. BRANDES.-

FENCE.

No. 605,849. .Patentd June 21,1898.

A A x me UNITED! STATES PATENT OEErcE.

Y .HERMAN H. BRANDES, OF CORYDON, KENTUCKY.

FENCE- l SPECIFICATION forming part'of Letters Patent No. 605,849, dated J' une 21, 1898.

'.,Application filed August l1, 1897. Serial No. 647,876. (No'model To @ZZ whom it mag/"concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN H. BRANDES, a citizen vof the United States, residing at Gorydon, in the county of Henderson and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Fence, of which the following is a 'specifica-A tion. v v

My invention relates to fences, and particularly to thatA class wherein wire runners are employed;l and the special feature of improvement resides in the construction of a lock or clampl for securing stays to the fencerunners, the object inview being to provide a lock or clamp for use in connection with metal stays of either the double-strand or hairpin type or of the bar or strap type, a common Y secure a stay against movementeither parallel with or perpendicular vto the line of the runners without necessitatingV the cutting, perforating, or otherwise destroying the continuity of the stay, whereby a continuous stay of uniform thickness and width may be rmly secured to the runners.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be 'particularly pointed out in the appended claims. p n

In the drawings, Figure -1 is a view of a fence, showing thev improved, clamp or lock employed in the operativel position to secure stays of both the hair-pin and strap type to the runners. Fig. 2 is a detail view in perspective of one of the locks, showing the contiguous portion of a runner and the intersecting stay. Fig. Sis a horizontal sectional View of the same. Fig. 4 is a detail view in perspective of the clamp or lock detached.` Fig. 5 is a horizontal section of the clamp or lock applied to a stay of the bar or strap construction.

Similar numerals of reference indicate correspondingparts in all the figures of the draw- 1n gs. Y k

In the construction illustrated-the runners 1, of which any desired number spaced at the preferred intervals may be employed, are connected by stays 2 and 2a, each having parallelspaced bearing-faces for contact with each runner. The hair-pin or looped-wire stay or picket 2 is of the common or well-known constructionfeach side of the picket consisting of a straight. portion of wire forming a beare .to strengthen the stay againsttransverse bending and also for a further purpose, which will be hereinafter explained.

The clamp or lock 3, forming the essential feature of my invention, consists 'of a single plate of metal, forming a flat body portion or face 4, terminating in upper and lower pairs of ears 5, bent rearwardly from the body portion or face of the lock and adapted to engage the side edges of a stay or picket.l The ears 5 at each end of the clamp' are spaced apart to form an interval of sufficient width to receive the runner of the fence to which the device is applied, and in the construction illustrated this interval is formed between the terminal ears of the clamp by means of longitudinal slots 6 of a length greater than the ears 5, and hence extending toward each other into the body portion or face of the clamp to form extensions or cut-away por-- tions (il. Between the inner ends of the'cutaway portions 6a, formed by the extensions of the longitudinal slots r6, the body portion or face of the clamp is longitudinally bulged or crimped, as shown at 8, in alinement with said slots, the depth of this crimped portion being sufficient to entirely receive the runner, whereby the flat surfaces of the body portion of the clamp bear squarely against. the bearing surfaces or portions of the stayor picket and span the interval between said bearing faces or portions.

The projection of the fastening-ears 5 in rear of the plane of the body portion or face of the clamp is slightly in excess o f the thickness of the stayor picket, whereby the extremities of said ears are adapted to be folded toward each other into contact with the rear face ofthe stay or picket, as'shown clearly in Figs. 3 and 5. These inwardly-bent engaging portions of the ears are shown at 5,-

Owing to the cut-away portions 6a at the lool extremities of the crimped or bowed portion S of the clamp, it will be seen that eachbearing portion of a stay or picket is in contact with a clamp at contiguous spaced points, located, respectively, at the bases of the ears 5 at one end of the clamp, and hence by pressing rearwardly upon the crimped or bowed portion of the clamp after the latter has been applied to the runner and stay the intermediate portion of the clamp, with the portion of the runner embedded therein, may be bowed rearwardly between the bearing points or edges of the stayor picket, as shown clearly in Figs. 3 and 5, to lock the clamp, and hence the stay or picket, from displacement in a direction parallel with the runners. This rearward deflection of the crimped portion of the clamp may be accomplished simultaneously with the folding of the extremities or engaging portions 5 of the ears.

As above indicated, each form ofstay illustrated in the drawings is provided with parallel spaced bearing edges, those of the hairpin or looped stay being formed by the legs thereof, while those of the strap form (shown at T) are formed by the portions of the stay upon opposite sides of the longitudinal crimp 2*). Thus while the front or bearing face of each clamp spans the interval between and is in contact with both the bearing-faces of a stay or picket the intermediate portion of said face or bearing portion of the clamp is out of contact with the stay or picket, and hence pressure applied to the center of the crimped or bowed portion of the clamp, whether the clamp is used in connection with the hair-pin or the strap picket, will cause a deflection of. said crimped portion and of the inclosod portion of the runner between the points ot bearing of the stay or picket on said runner.

A further advantage of the construction herein described resides in the fact that the engagement of the clamp with the stay or picket and the runner is accomplished without puncturing, cutting, or otherwise destroying the continuity of the stay or picket and without preparatory crilnping of the runner. ly reason of the continuous construction of the stayit is obvious that the cross-sectional strength thereof is uniform throughout and the stay is not liable to bend or become broken contiguous to the planes of the runners, as when stays are perforated or cut to form locks or to provide for the engagement therewith of locks.

rlhe facility with which the crimped portion of a clamp and the inclosed portion of the runner may be deflected between the points of bearing of a stay on said runner depends upon the fact that the crimped portion of the clamp between the inner ends of the slots is of less length than the interval between the bearing points or edges of the stay or, as will be seen by reference to lfig. 5, is less than the interval. between the outermost portions of the bearing-points ofthe strap-picket upon the runner.

lt is obvious thatin practice various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention,

Having described my invention, what I claim isl. In a fence, the combination with runners and intersecting stays or pickets, each having parallel spaced bearing-points arranged in contact with the runners at one side, of clamps arranged at the intersections of the stays or pickets with the runners, and in contact with the runners at the opposite sides from the stays, and each clamp having abody portion transversely spanning the stay, in contact with the bearing-points thereof at the same side as the intersecting runner, and engaging the opposite side of the ruimer from said stay, and provided with terminal upper and lower ears engaging the side edges ol' the stay respectively above and below the plane of the interseeting runner, substantially as specified.

2. As a newarticle of manufacture, a clamp for securing stays or pickets to wire fencerunners, the same consisting of a plate having a flat body portion or bearing-face, provided at each end with spaced upper and lower engaging ears separated by an intervening slot, the slots at opposite ends of the plate being extended inwardly beyond the bases of said engaging ears, and the body portion or bearing-face of' the plate being longitudinally crimped, in alinement with an d between the contiguous ends of said slots, substantially as specified.

In a fence, the combination with runners and intersecting stays or pickets, cach having parallel spaced bearing -points arranged in contact with each runner, of clamps arranged at the intersections of the stays or pickets with the runners, and each clamp having a fiat body portion transversely spanning the stay in contact with the bearing-points thereof, terminal upper and lower ears engaging the side edges of' the stay or picket and spaced apart to occupy positions above and below the intersecting runner, the portions of the clamp between the ears at each end thereof being cut away to form alined slots extending inwardly beyond the bases of the ears, and the bearingportion of the clamp bcingcrimped between and in alinement with said slot-s to receive the runner, and being deflected rearwardly or toward the stay to bow thc runner rearwardly between the bearing-points of the stay, substantially as specified.

4. In a fence, the combination with runners and intersecting stays, each having parallel spaced bearing-points in contact with each runner, of clamps each consisting of a plate provided at its opposite ends with alined inwardly-entending slots, engaging ears deflected from the plane of the body portion of the clamp at points between the outer and inner ends of said slots and engaging the opposite side edges of the stay, the body portion IOO IIO

' with a continuous longitudinal crimp and parof the plate between the inner ends of and in alinement with said longitudinal slots being forwardly crimped to form a seat for the runner, substantially as specified.

5. In a fence, the combinationwith runners, of a connecting stay or picket consisting of a continuous metallic strap, provided allel-,spaced bearing-points, upon opposite sides of said crimp, for contact with the runners, and a clamp comprising a iiat body portion spanning the interval between the bearing-points of the stay, provided at each end with upper and lower ears engaging the opposite side edges of the stay, said clamp being cut away between the ears at each end to form inwardly-extending slots, and being crimped between the inner endsy of and in alinement with theV slots tol receive the runner, said crimped portion of the clamp and the inclosed portion of the runner being de- 

